4 March 2017

Bearcubs - Underwaterfall EP

Bearcubs is the alias of electronic producer of 25-year old Jack
Ritchie. According to the PR information that came with this release (and I
quote); He’s been putting out material for the past 2 years, and has honed
in on a distinctly unique blend of emotive electronic, future garage and lo-fi
house music, which has seen him heavily championed across the radio airwaves,
with ‘Chroma‘ added to the BBC Radio 1 Introducing Playlist
with the likes of Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, Danny Howard and Monki
playing his material. Whilst this is not the sort of thing that I
normally go for (it usually tends to be one of the other guys on the blog who gets
this sort of stuff), it has fallen to me to review this one. Time to see
what this EP is all about......

01 – Burning Up

With minimal noise, space and repeating percussion, Bearcubs let ‘Burning Up’ start this EP very slowly
and it keeps it there.This is a
minimalist version of electronica which reminds me a lot of Animal Collective,
Radiohead ‘Kid A’ period and Panda
Bear, it has lots of spaces for your mind to be lost in, but it has some heavy
bass that gives the song its pulse.

02 – Underwaterfall

Starting with that same minimal feeling, ‘Underwaterfall’
could have been the same song to be honest, but the noise rises as the song
progressives and you can hear strange noises as the song moves along.It is an incredibly interesting number, one
that makes you think it is going in one direction and then it moves with
serpent like speed and has this fascinating chorus that haunts you for long
after it has finished with its clockwork percussion driving that section to
larger heights.

03 – False Mirrors

‘False Mirrors’ could have been the song of the EP, it was so very close to it
and then it failed.Let me explain,
Bearcubs have a pattern of playing – slow and sparse start which builds to a
louder chorus section, lapse back into silence and then repeat the build.But it is repeated throughout the release and
this song hinted at more than that and a change; it was so very close, but it
missed.

04 – SL001

Ending this ep is ‘SL001‘ which is
screaming for a remix and just a tiny bit more percussion, if anything it sort
of perfectly sums up this release.There
is some great synth work on this song, it builds nicely and then it goes
nowhere, retreats to the original starting point to rise again and fade out to
the end.

For what it is worth, this release is a decent for post-minimalist electronic
that does not want to be driven be the beat of loud drums, tons of synth and
the pop charts. Forging your own path is always important and I think that Bearcubs will rise to higher success without the likes of me ruining the party, it is just not music for me. I cannot fault the ideas of the music per se, it has some good passages on each song and it is great when the bass is
turned up loud.However, the same
pattern is played out in each of the songs, to the point where you can predict
before the music starts when the changes are happening (even when hearing these
songs for the first time) and it feels like it has been said before without
anything new being added to the genre.Not a bad
release, but not making enough of an impression to stand out either.

Welcome to the final round-up review of 2017! Similar to the Round-Up posts I put up earlier in the year, I’m going to be posting some bull...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens